Mayor wants to hear ideas for Stockton

STOCKTON - Saying he wants to provide Stockton residents with the opportunity to speak directly to a variety of city officials, Mayor Anthony Silva will hold his first town-hall meeting tonight at a church not far from where he spent his earliest years.

STOCKTON - Saying he wants to provide Stockton residents with the opportunity to speak directly to a variety of city officials, Mayor Anthony Silva will hold his first town-hall meeting tonight at a church not far from where he spent his earliest years.

The town-hall meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. and will be held at Calvary First Assembly of God, 8407 Kelley Drive.

"I know residents are busy taking care of their kids, working at full-time jobs and trying to put food on the table," Silva said. "But I want people to come out, share ideas, good ideas for Stockton. I want them to feel they have an outlet."

Silva said representatives from the city manager's office and the Police Department will be on hand to speak to the audience. So will representatives from the public works and economic development departments, as well as members of commissions Silva has established to study issues involving people with disabilities, the homeless, youth and animal services.

"When (community members) see the committees, I hope they will want to get involved," said Silva, adding that he intends to host at least one town-hall meeting a year during his term.

The final segment of the session will be reserved for questions and comments from the audience.

"They can ask questions and get answers," Silva said. "If we have zillions of questions and don't have time for all, we'll collect the cards. I'll go through each one and get them to where they need to go."

Silva said he chose the Kelley Drive location because he spent some of his formative years growing up in a triplex in the neighborhood.

"It'll be good to go to Kelley Drive," he said.

Contact reporter Roger Phillips at (209) 546-8299 or rphillips@recordnet.com. Follow him at recordnet.com/phillipsblog and on Twitter @rphillipsblog.